Longing for Our True Heavenly Home
Summary
### Summary
When we think of "home," it often evokes feelings of warmth, security, and love, especially memories of our mothers. However, our earthly homes, while providing some comfort and security, are far from perfect. They can also be places of pain and disappointment. This longing for a perfect home is a reflection of a deeper spiritual truth: we were created for a heavenly home, a place prepared by Jesus Himself.
In John 13-17, Jesus speaks to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, assuring them that He is going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house. This promise is not just for the disciples but for all who trust in Him. Jesus emphasizes that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. This heavenly home is a place of eternal security, free from pain, death, and sorrow.
Our earthly homes, no matter how comfortable, are temporary and flawed. They are a mere shadow of the perfect home that awaits us. This world, with all its suffering and injustice, is not our true home. We are temporary residents and foreigners here, longing for a place where God's righteousness reigns supreme.
To be sure of hearing Jesus say "Welcome home," we must be His followers. This means more than just believing in Him; it means trusting Him enough to follow His teachings and live according to His will. True faith manifests in obedience. Jesus is preparing a place for those who follow Him, not just those who believe certain truths about Him.
Our ultimate home is a place where we will see God face to face, free from all forms of pain and suffering. It is a place of eternal beauty, joy, and fellowship with our Creator. This is the home our souls long for, and it is the home Jesus eagerly waits to welcome us into.
### Key Takeaways
1. The Imperfection of Earthly Homes: Our earthly homes, while providing some comfort and security, are far from perfect. They can be places of pain and disappointment, reflecting the brokenness of this world. This imperfection points to our deeper longing for a perfect, heavenly home. [08:47]
2. Jesus Prepares Our True Home: In John 13-17, Jesus assures His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house. This promise extends to all who trust in Him. Our true home is a place of eternal security, free from pain, death, and sorrow. [06:00]
3. Temporary Residents and Foreigners: As followers of Christ, we are temporary residents and foreigners in this world. Our true citizenship is in heaven, and we should not get too attached to the things of this world. Our ultimate longing should be for our heavenly home. [17:39]
4. The Necessity of Following Jesus: To be sure of hearing Jesus say "Welcome home," we must be His followers. This means trusting Him enough to follow His teachings and live according to His will. True faith manifests in obedience, and Jesus is preparing a place for those who follow Him. [39:21]
5. The Glory of Our Heavenly Home: Our ultimate home is a place where we will see God face to face, free from all forms of pain and suffering. It is a place of eternal beauty, joy, and fellowship with our Creator. This is the home our souls long for, and it is the home Jesus eagerly waits to welcome us into. [45:30]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[01:32] - The Concept of Home
[02:59] - A True Story of Misplaced Home
[04:31] - Jesus' Last Night with His Disciples
[06:00] - Jesus Prepares a Place for Us
[07:26] - The Disciples' Troubled Hearts
[08:47] - The Pain in Our Homes
[10:25] - The Parable of the Rich Uncle
[13:09] - Our Longing for More
[14:40] - The Creator's Welcome
[16:04] - Temporary Residents and Foreigners
[17:39] - The World's Hatred
[20:25] - The Rational Relationship with God
[23:10] - The Obedience of Faith
[24:31] - God's Way of Winning Our Trust
[26:08] - The New Heaven and New Earth
[27:42] - Our Glorious New Bodies
[30:34] - The Abolition of Evil
[32:00] - Pursuing Righteousness
[33:28] - How to Be Sure of Hearing "Welcome Home"
[35:02] - Trusting and Obeying God
[37:53] - Following Jesus
[39:21] - The Certainty of Eternal Life
[42:26] - The Rationality of Following Jesus
[45:30] - The Glory of Our Heavenly Home
[48:35] - The Assurance of Hearing "Welcome Home"
[49:59] - Closing Prayer
Study Guide
### Bible Reading
1. John 14:1-3 (NIV)
> "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
2. 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV)
> "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul."
3. Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)
> "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
### Observation Questions
1. According to John 14:1-3, what does Jesus promise to His disciples about their future home? ([04:31])
2. In 1 Peter 2:11, how are believers described in relation to this world? ([17:39])
3. What transformation is promised to believers in Philippians 3:20-21? ([27:42])
4. What does the sermon suggest is the reason behind our longing for a perfect home? ([08:47])
### Interpretation Questions
1. How does Jesus' promise in John 14:1-3 provide comfort to believers facing trials and uncertainties? ([04:31])
2. What does it mean to live as "foreigners and exiles" in this world according to 1 Peter 2:11, and how should this perspective influence our daily lives? ([17:39])
3. How does the promise of a transformed body in Philippians 3:20-21 affect the way believers view their current physical struggles and limitations? ([27:42])
4. The sermon emphasizes the necessity of following Jesus to hear Him say "Welcome home." What does true following look like according to the sermon? ([39:21])
### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your current home. In what ways does it provide comfort and security, and in what ways does it fall short? How does this reflection help you understand your deeper longing for a heavenly home? ([08:47])
2. Jesus said He is preparing a place for us. How does this promise impact your view of your current life and its challenges? ([04:31])
3. As temporary residents and foreigners in this world, what are some practical steps you can take to avoid getting too attached to worldly desires and values? ([17:39])
4. The sermon mentions that true faith manifests in obedience. Identify one area in your life where you struggle to follow Jesus' teachings. What steps can you take to align this area with His will? ([39:21])
5. How does the promise of a new, glorious body in Philippians 3:20-21 encourage you in your current physical or emotional struggles? ([27:42])
6. The sermon talks about the glory of our heavenly home where we will see God face to face. How does this vision of eternity shape your priorities and decisions today? ([45:30])
7. Reflect on the idea of hearing Jesus say "Welcome home." What changes do you need to make in your life to ensure you are living as His follower and not just a believer in certain truths about Him? ([39:21])
Devotional
### 5-Day Devotional
Day 1: The Imperfection of Earthly Homes
Description:
Our earthly homes, while providing some comfort and security, are far from perfect. They can be places of pain and disappointment, reflecting the brokenness of this world. This imperfection points to our deeper longing for a perfect, heavenly home. The sense of warmth, security, and love we often associate with "home" is a mere shadow of the true home that awaits us. This longing is a spiritual truth that we were created for a heavenly home, a place prepared by Jesus Himself. [08:47]
Bible Passage:
"For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:14, ESV)
Reflection:
Think about a time when your earthly home or family situation brought you pain or disappointment. How does the promise of a perfect, heavenly home bring you comfort in that context?
Day 2: Jesus Prepares Our True Home
Description:
In John 13-17, Jesus assures His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house. This promise extends to all who trust in Him. Our true home is a place of eternal security, free from pain, death, and sorrow. Jesus emphasizes that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. This heavenly home is a place where God's righteousness reigns supreme, and it is the ultimate destination for those who follow Jesus. [06:00]
Bible Passage:
"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" (John 14:2, ESV)
Reflection:
Consider the idea that Jesus is personally preparing a place for you in heaven. How does this change your perspective on your current struggles and challenges?
Day 3: Temporary Residents and Foreigners
Description:
As followers of Christ, we are temporary residents and foreigners in this world. Our true citizenship is in heaven, and we should not get too attached to the things of this world. This world, with all its suffering and injustice, is not our true home. We are called to live with an eternal perspective, focusing on our heavenly home where God's righteousness reigns supreme. This mindset helps us navigate the trials and tribulations of this life with hope and assurance. [17:39]
Bible Passage:
"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20, ESV)
Reflection:
Reflect on an area of your life where you might be too attached to worldly things. How can you shift your focus to your heavenly citizenship today?
Day 4: The Necessity of Following Jesus
Description:
To be sure of hearing Jesus say "Welcome home," we must be His followers. This means trusting Him enough to follow His teachings and live according to His will. True faith manifests in obedience, and Jesus is preparing a place for those who follow Him. Believing in Jesus is not just about accepting certain truths; it is about a transformative relationship that leads to a life of obedience and discipleship. [39:21]
Bible Passage:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15, ESV)
Reflection:
Identify one teaching of Jesus that you find challenging to follow. What steps can you take today to begin living out this teaching more faithfully?
Day 5: The Glory of Our Heavenly Home
Description:
Our ultimate home is a place where we will see God face to face, free from all forms of pain and suffering. It is a place of eternal beauty, joy, and fellowship with our Creator. This is the home our souls long for, and it is the home Jesus eagerly waits to welcome us into. The promise of this glorious future gives us hope and strength to endure the trials of this life, knowing that something far greater awaits us. [45:30]
Bible Passage:
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4, ESV)
Reflection:
Think about a specific pain or sorrow you are experiencing right now. How does the promise of a future without pain and suffering give you hope and encouragement today?
Quotes
1. "Most of us, even though we would admit that our homes, they're not perfect by any means, yet we have learned to be kind of thankful and content with our homes. But if I were to say to you that there's no money problem whatsoever, I'll buy whatever kind of home improvement you want, I'm going to take care of it for you. You can get new furniture. You can paint everything. I don't care what the home improvement is. If you want a home improvement, I'm picking up the tab. How many of you want a home improvement?" [01:32] (36 seconds)
2. "There's not an experience that you've had in life that he didn't share that with you. You didn't know it, but he did. There's not a tear that you shed that he didn't see and he didn't understand. There's not a dream that you had that he doesn't care about. This God has capacity for intimacy with you, with me, with all of us. His heart is that big. His mind is that big. He went, it says, to prepare a place. Jesus is going to prepare a place for you, for me individually." [06:00] (28 seconds)
3. "Your home is a place where you're going to see the creator, the sustainer of the universe comfortably, face to face. You're not going to have any fear. You're not going to have any guilt. You're not going to have any shame. It is a place where pain does not in any form exist, and it is spectacularly beautiful. Yes, you have an appetite for beauty. Yes, you want newer, nicer, bigger, better, because you're driven by this spiritual image somewhere looming in your soul. It's trying to take you home." [14:40] (33 seconds)
4. "Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners. Sometimes society is shifting and changing in such difficult to watch ways that I'm sure you, like me, are feeling more and more like, I'm a foreigner here. I don't know. I wake up and look at things. I'm like, I can't believe this is really happening, that people are really thinking this way, conducting themselves this way. So we're temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires." [17:39] (60 seconds)
5. "The only rational, the only logical relationship for a finite being, we're finite, we're created, and an infinite being is one of trust. I ask you this question to a group of high schoolers when I'd only been a Christian about two years and I was teaching some high schoolers in what was a Sunday school class and I assessed very quickly that though they knew Christian lingo, they were not Christians, okay? They could rattle off, oh yeah, Jesus died for our sins and rose again and I believe that and, you know, because of that they thought they were going to heaven, but I could tell they had no real trust in Christ because the evidence all through the Bible of an authentic trust in Christ is obedience follows." [20:25] (44 seconds)
6. "The only way the universe can live in harmony at the highest level of joy for every single individual in the universe is if we all do the will of God. In other words, God's trying to teach us to live like he lives himself and to love like he loves because he knows that's the only way the universe can live in harmony, peace, maximum joy, and happiness." [23:10] (19 seconds)
7. "If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. Get this. Whoever serves me must do what? Follow me. Remember, get the picture. You're trying to follow that person. You're trying to follow that person in front of you to get to your destiny. And where I am, my servant also will what? Well, if Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you, and then I'm going to come again and receive you to myself. If I want to go to the place that he's preparing for me, I must be following him. That must be who I am." [39:21] (34 seconds)
8. "To be certain of possessing eternal life, to be certain to receive a glorious welcome by Jesus himself into the place he's prepared for us. He's preparing the place for his followers. He's preparing the place for his followers. He's preparing the place for his followers. He's not preparing the place for people with ideas about him. I may believe, I may believe all the truth that the Bible says about Jesus. I may believe that he came to this world. He lived a totally sinless life. He did miracles that nobody else could do. He showed grace and kindness to people that the world has never seen. He died a sacrificial death on the cross and he rose again from the grave. I can believe all of those things and never, go to be at home with him." [40:54] (50 seconds)
9. "Here's what your home looks like. It says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying look God's dwelling place his home is now among the people and he will dwell with them picture this you me we face to face with the creator and the sustainer of the universe that's what this is saying it goes on they will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God he will wipe away every tear from their eyes notice the capacity of God for individual intimacy with all of us in our pain he's he's not unaware there will be no more what is the word that's the big game changer no more death no more God immortal no more death or mourning or crying lots of reasons we cry or what is this one pain of any kind physical pain emotional pain mental pain no pain of any kind for the old order of things has passed all of us is caught with the personality noises the anxiety the dissonance of many изний and many times there are ev informações the financial decision risks are different from what we've seen I'm not going to say that's because you're young get rich soon you're not going to lose yet however I doubt it because I believe Jesus said many times these things happen King James there are indirect consequences and sprinkled indicate i'm not at home you're not at home insecurity inferiority we could just go on and on these tragic things that we we cope with the best that we can in this your real home and you're gonna you're gonna feel safe you're gonna feel significant you're gonna feel secure you're gonna know you're loved you're gonna know you're wanted you're gonna know you matter you're gonna have an extraordinary beautiful eternal immortal body you're gonna have a mind that will make einstein look dumb and you will live in the fellowship the eye to eye ear to ear voice fellowship with the creator and sustainer of the universe and man does he have plans he's endlessly creative we're not gonna be sitting around you know on a cloud somewhere just kind of killing time that's not the way god works that's your home and he wants he's eagerly just waiting to welcome us all home and that's why it says in the scriptures that we who are his followers we eagerly desire his return and folks you've heard me say you that have been here for many years now we have every reason to believe we might actually be the generation to welcome that return and hear him say before we think we might welcome home" [45:30] (60 seconds)
10. "The series started out with this god says to each of us no matter who we are where we're at i'll always love you we may not accept his love we may not respond to it but he says to us without shame i always love you i'll never forsake you you don't have to be afraid your sins are forgiven and he wants to be able to say to all of us well done welcome home i want you to hear that i desperately want to hear that we all can hear that and it could literally for some of us start this sunday this could be the day that we say you know what everybody's following somebody real deal man i'm going to start following jesus i really want to be in home the real home the home my heart desires that i can never have no matter how many home improvements i make while alive on this earth i'm not knocking home improvements by the way for any of you i don't want you to feel guilty about that so we each have an individual kind of a set of thoughts and decisions we should ponder about this i hope we'll all go out of here with the certainty and assurance that we're going to hear these words we're his we're his followers we're real deal and we're going to hear these words together and we're going to celebrate and we're going to have the embrace the embrace of jesus because we're not phonies we're not fakes we're not frauds we're not just saying one thing and because we believe certain things you know and we're not living consistent with it we're like no i'm the real deal watch my life you'll see that i'm serious about doing god's will i'm i'm putting it into action i'm growing i'm learning i'm progressing i'm not perfect but i'm i'm sincere in my heart and trusting him and obeying his will as it's revealed in his word so i hope i just described everyone in here let's let's pray father you you know all things you know the hearts of all and thank you thank you thank you that you did not sign us to be at home in such a place where there's disease and death and hatred and prejudice and crime and war and and all the things that we just kind of breathe in and out every day of our lives may your spirit stir each and every one of us in this room give us your eternal perspective and set our hearts on fire to be your fully devoted followers and hear these words well done welcome home i ask it in christ's name amen" [46:58] (60 seconds)
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